Students at Hutsit Primary School are beaming with excitement as they proudly show the new textbooks they have received from the Ministry of Education (MoE). The provision of free textbooks for children is a key intervention anchored on the Government’s principle of social justice and is supported by a program funded by GPE, with UNICEF as implementing partner.

The new textbooks for Hutsit Primary school children are in their mother tongue, the Saho language – one of the nine instructional languages of Eritrea. Eritrea’s Ministry of Education is promoting mother tongue education in early grades through the provision of free textbooks and the training of local teachers.

According to UNESCO, education in the mother tongue is a key factor for inclusion and it improves learning and academic performance. When the curriculum is delivered in the medium that students are familiar with and through which they can receive support from their parents, the potential to improve learning increases.

In 2023, the MoE with support from GPE printed over 1.2 million textbooks, most of which have already been distributed to children in disadvantaged areas.

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